Combined door and step operating means for railway-cars.



M. OBRIEN. V COMBINED DOOR AND STEP OPERATING MEANS POR RAILWAY GARS.

APPLICATION FILED APILZQ, 1909. 983,574. Patented sept. 7, 1909.

2 BHEET8-SHEET 1.

N jzfmezam M. OBRIEN.

COMBINED DOOE AND STEP OPERATING MEANS EOE RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION ILB) APE. 29,1909.

Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ME@ @5f/5 @Eig/f UNITED srarnsrgrnnfr erica.

FIICHAEL OBRIEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED RAIL'WAYS CGIV'- PANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF IJIISSOURI.

COMBINED DOOR AND STEP OPERATING MEANS FOR RAILVfY-CARS.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that l, lvlicnAnL CBiuiix, a

, citizen ot the United States ot' America, re-

siding at the city of St. Louis, in the State o'l Missouri, have invented certain new and use- 't'ul Improvements in Combined Door and Step Operating Means itor Railway-Cars, ot' which the following is a tull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the ac companying drawings,.forming part ot this specification.

My invention relates to a means for use in opening and closing doors of railway cars, and also tor lowering and raising steps ad- `jacent to such doors, and whereby, when the door is closed the step may be elevated into a non-serviceable position7 and lowered to a serviceable position when the door is open.

The means to which my invention relates is intended more particularly for use upon what are now known as pay-as-you-enter railway cars more particularly used upon street railways, and the device is more especially intended tor use at the exit opening ot the ear on which the means is used and which may be controlled by the. door operated by my improved ine-ans.

Figure l is a top orv plan view of my door and step operating means with the parts to which my improvement pertains shown in t'ull lines, and a car vestibule shown in dot and dash lines. Fig. H is an elevation ot my door and step operating means with portions broken ont, the car body being illustrated by dot and dash lines and being partly broken out horizontally to contract the view.

In the accompanying drawings: A designates a door by which` an opening in a portion of the car may be controlled, this door being illustrated in the drawings as being composed of sections hinged to each other and being preferably so made. The door is supported by hangers B and C that are arranged to ride upon an overhead track D, in order that the door may be at one time positioned to control the opening in the car, and at another time retracted from said opening to expose it.

E designates a step located at the opening as controlled by the door A., and w lich is supported by hinge members F and G pivoted to each other at H, the former of which is secured to a part. orn the car beneath the opening mentioned, and the latter of which is secured to the step. The hinge member Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 29, 1909.

E patented Sept.. 5, i903?.

Serial No. 493,028,

if, therefore. becomes` a lixed member, while the hinge member C serves as a connection to the hinge member l" that permits oli the step being at one time in an elevated or ver tical position, seen in liull lilies in the drawings,} and at another time in a lowered or horizontal posi ion, as illustrated in dotted lines.

'l designates a stati' or main operating member in my door and step controlling means, this statt being ,'ertically positioned upon the car and being preteraoly so located as to be in close proximity to the inotorman. or another operator upon the car. rl'he stall' is supported at its lo 'er end by a bracket 2 (see Fig. il) and at its upper end by a bracket 3, these parts being suitably attached to fixed parts ot the car. l a keeper bracket fixed to a portion ol' the cai' and through which the statt extends. 'lhe stall' is pivoted to it at 8.

T is an operating lever located above the keeper 5 carried by the bracket el, and which is provided at its lower end with a tooth or projection 9 that is adapted to enter a notch in the keeper it'or the purpose ot holding the lever, and consequently the statt from movement when the lever is in a horizontal position.

The stall l. has fixed to it a lower arm l() to which is pivoted one end ot the connecting rod il.

l2 is a stationary bracket preferably carried by the overhead track rail l), and l?) is a throw lever having one of its ends pivoted at ll to the bracket lhe connecting rod ll is pivotally united at l5 to the throw lever 13 intern'iediate ot the ends oli said lever. i

lo is a link, one end oi' which is pivoted at l? to the end of the throw lever 13 farthest removed trom its point oit' pivotal support, the other end of said link having pivotal connection at 18 with the hanger C that serves with the hanger B to support and guide the door A into slidable opening and closing movement.

19 designates hangers located beneath the floor of the car and supported by attachment in any suitable manner to a part or parts of the car. These hangers have loosely mounted in them a rock shaft 2O that has fixed to it curved arms Q1 and 22.

23 is a throw rod having one of its ends pivotally connected at 2l to the curved arm 2l, and its other end pivoted at 25 to the step E at the inner edge of the step, a suitable connection member 26 being attached to the step to permit of the pivotal connection between the throw rod and the step.

27 designates a connecting rod having one of its ends pivoted at 2S to the curved arm 22 attached to the rock shaft 20. The other end of this connecting rod is located in proX- imity to the staff l and is pivotally connected at 29 to the lever arm 30 fiXed to said staff at its lower end.

In the practical use of my door and step operating means, the parts normally occupy the positions in which they are seen in full lines in the drawings, at which time the door A is closed and controlling the opening that is to be guarded thereby, and the step E is in an elevated position in order that it may not be utilized by a passenger in an effort to gain access to the car through the doorguarded opening, which, as previously stated, is only intended to be used as an exit opening, and to be exposed when the door and step operating means is operated by the person whose duty it is to operate it. `When the door is to be opened and the step lowered, the operator by grasping the throw lever 7 elevates said lever to free its tooth 9 from the keeper 5, and then by moving said lever in an arc of a circle imparts rotation to the staff l. As said staff rotates, it carries with it the lever arms l0 and 30 whereby the connecting rods ll and Q7 are moved longitudinally with the result of causing them to act respectively upon the other lever 13 and the curved arm of the rock shaft 20. Upon this action taking place, the other lever 13 is elevated laterally so that its end connected to the link 1G moves in a direction away from the door A and the pull is exerted upon said link to cause it to impart movement to the hanger C upon the overhead track rail D, this movement being continued until the door A supported by said hanger is conducted to an open position. Simultaneously with the operation of the door as explained, the connecting' rod 27 by acting upon the curved arm 22 causes the rock shaft Q0 to be rotated, and the curved arm 2l, also carried by said rock shaft, to be moved in a direction away from the step E, whereby the throw rod Q3 is moved inwardly and the step is lowered to a horizontal position, as illustrated by dotted lines, Fig. II. lIt is obvious that movement of the operating lever 7 in a direction the reverse of that in which it is moved to open the door and lower the step will cause the parts actuated by the staff l to be moved contrariwise to the previously described movement and so that they will act to close the door and elevate the step, thus returning the parts to their normal positions.

I claim:

l. The combination, with a door and a step adjacent to said door; of a main shaft, a lever connected to said door, a rod connecting said main shaft to said door lever, a rock shaft connected with said step, a rod connecting said main shaft to said rock shaft and means for operating said main shaft.

2. The combination with a door and a pivotally supported step adjacent to said door, of a main operating shaft, a lever connected to said door, a connectingv rod uniting said lever to said main operating shaft, a rock shaft having connection with said step, a connecting rod uniting said rock shaft to said main operating shaft, and means for operating said main shaft.

3. The combination with a door and a pivotally supported step adjacent to said door, of a main operating shaft provided with a pair of lever arms, a lever having connection with said door, a connecting rod uniting said lever to one of said lever arms, a rock shaft having connection with said step, a connecting rod uniting said rock shaft to the other of said lever arms, and means for operating said main shaft.

4. The combination with a door and a pivotally supported step adjacent to said door, of a main operating shaft, means of connection between said main operatingA shaft and said door and step, whereby the door may be either opened or closed, and the step may be lowered or raised, a hand lever pivoted to said main operating shaft, and a keeper associated with said main operating shaft and with which said hand lever is adapted to engage to hold it from movement.

MICHAEL OBRIEN. In thel presence of- EMMETT P. IVORTH, HERMAN IVOHLER.

Correction in Leiters Patent No. 933,5?4.

it is hereby certified that the assignee tennber T an in'iprovernent in Cars,

of St. Louis, Missouri, a corp of the Case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 12th day of Oct [SEAL l l i i i A Combined Door und Step Louie, of St. Louis, Missouri, i corpo/ration,

oretion of Missouri; i

should be reed with this correction therein that the s in Letters Patent No. 983,574, granted Sep- 1909, upon the application of Michael CBrien, ot'. St. Louis, Missouri, for

Operating Means for Railwayshould have heen described and specified es United Railways U01/Wawy of St,

instead oi' United Riilways Company,

and that the said Letters Fetent eine may conform to the record ober, A. D..l 1909.

C. C. BlLLINGS,

Acting Oor/imiseioneo of Pate/nis. 

